What to Expect When Restaurants Reopen in Chicago

"I don't think we're going to be ready by May 29 but my hope is soon in June we're going to be ready," Lightfoot said during a press briefing.

Published May 21, 2020•Updated on May 21, 2020 at 10:51 pm

NBCUniversal, Inc.

Despite Illinois allowing restaurants to reopen for outdoor
seating in phase three of its reopening plan, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said
city residents shouldn't expect that to happen this month and restaurant owners
are adapting to the new plan.

"May 29 is the expiration date of the stay-at-home
order," Lightfoot said. "As everyone surely knows, the city of
Chicago has its own responsibilities and obligations to craft policies, public
health policies, that are specific to the city of Chicago and we are hard at
work on looking at ways in which we can get our restaurant industry back
up."

Local

When restaurants do reopen in Chicago, diners can expect to
see some changes. Restaurants will no longer allow walk-ins meaning the outdoor
dining experiences will be reservation only and staff will be wearing masks, restaurants
will provide sanitizer stations, tables will be six feet apart and all menus
will be disposable.

“We want to make everyone feel safe and healthy,” said
Bucktown’s Red June Café owner Kim Blackburn. “We will have the tables further
apart, we will have less chairs and we will have them sanitized and cleaned and
ready for people to use.”

Customers will also be required to wear masks when they’re not safely seated at their table.

“It is not going to be the same until a vaccination is out,” said Bucktown’s Irazu owner Henry Cerdas. "Each customer and our staff have to take precautions to a whole different level."

Also on Thursday, Lightfoot acknowledged that she is working with local aldermen on plans to allow street closures to accommodate for additional outdoor seating at eateries, but did not offer a specific timeline.

"Like everything, we've got to do it safely. I need to understand and be certain that restaurants across the city have a means to protect their employees and members of the public that will patronize them," she said. "That's why we've been talking openly about well, what do we think about creating some closed streets, open spaces for restaurants to be able to open up and use the open spaces, but the reality is the other piece of it."